Wind and solar power rather than traditional energy won the lion's share of global investment in power generating capacity last year despite the credit crunch, a new report from the United Nations has revealed.

Over $140bn (£85bn) was injected into renewable electricity production in 2008 out of a total in all kinds of power of $250bn. China and other Asian countries ramped up spending as investment faltered slightly in Europe and the US due to the economic crisis.

But with the UN calling for $750bn to be spent worldwide between 2009-11 to help meet climate change targets, 2009 has started ominously with a 53% slump in first quarter renewables investment to $13.3bn, according to the latest annual Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment report.

"Without doubt the economic crisis has taken its toll on investments in clean energy when set against the record-breaking growth of recent years," said Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN's Environment Programme.

"However there were some bright spots in 2008 especially in developing economies. China became the world's second largest wind market in terms of new capacity and the world's biggest photovoltaic manufacturer and a rise in geothermal energy may be getting underway in countries from Australia to Japan," he added.

In total, over $155bn was spent during 2008 in clean energy companies and projects worldwide even though capital raised on public stock markets fell 51% to $11.4bn and green firms saw share prices slump over 60%.

Wind attracted the highest new worldwide investment, $51.8bn, representing only a 1% annual growth. But solar, at $33.5bn, was up by nearly 50% year on year.

Biofuels was the next most popular for investment, winning $16.9bn but this was down 9% on 2007 as the sector was hit by overcapacity issues in the US, plus political opposition with ethanol being blamed for rising food prices.

Europe is still the main centre for investment in green power with $50bn being pumped into projects here, an increase of 2% on last year, while the figure for North America was $30bn, down 8%.

But while overall spending in the west dipped nearly 2% there was an 27% rise to $36.6bn in developing countries led by China which pumped in $15.6bn, mostly in wind and biomass plants.

China more than doubled its installed wind turbine capacity to 11GW of capacity while Indian wind investment was up 17% to $2.6bn as its overall clean tech spending rose to $4.1bn in 2008, 12% up on 2007 levels.

A number of Green New Deals – government reflationary packages designed to kickstart economies and boost action to counter climate change – have been laid out by ministers around the world. But the slump in global renewables investment in the first quarter of 2009 has alarmed the UN and industry figures.

Michael Liebreich, chief executive of consultants New Energy Finance, says the latest UN figures highlight the need for politicians to do more: "There is a strong case for further measures, such as requiring state-supported banks to raise lending to the sector, providing capital gains tax exemptions on investments in clean technology, creating a framework for green bonds and so on, all targeted at getting investment flowing."

It was important that stimulus funds start flowing immediately, not in a year or so, added Liebreich: "Many of the policies to achieve growth over the medium term are already in place, including feed-in tariff regimes, mandatory renewable energy targets and tax incentives. There is too much emphasis among some policy-makers on support mechanisms, and not enough on the urgent need [for funds by] investors right now."